Breach the Surface
by tacit-ronin
Summary: The Breach has been closed and the whole world is celebrating. But what if the kaiju came back? Can Raleigh, Chuck and Mako get into a jaeger again and fight to save the world? Can Chuck and Raleigh finally overcome their rivalry and become a team? Chuck/Raleigh.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I got infected with the Chuck/Raleigh bug! Please be aware that this story will eventually be Chuck/Raleigh. If you don't agree with that, please leave now.

And everyone else: This story is set straight after the ending of the movie. Although I had to make a little change. You probably guessed it already. Chuck and Herc switched places in this story. Sorry, Herc!

More notes at the bottom of the chapter. Now, enjoy!

**Breach the Surface**

**Phase 01 **

The first day was just a worldwide celebration. The whole world was ecstatic. We had done it! We had really won the kaiju war! The parties went on for a week, and then another week. And even another one in some parts of the world.

The Hong Kong shatterdome, which had been a home to hundreds of humans and four jaegers, was now a TV studio, a hotel and a hospital all at once. TV and radio crews from all over the world wanted to see the heroes who saved us all.

Some of the people who had been stationed at the shatterdome for the last years had left straight away to be with their families. But many had stayed behind. To recover in the hospital unit, to say good bye to their second home – because that's what the shatterdome had become to many – or simply because they had nowhere or no one left to come home to.

Mako and I had stayed to satisfy the world's hunger for news, faces and declarations of victory. We had stayed because we hadn't realized yet that it was indeed over; that no siren would wake us up in the middle of the night and that no jaeger was waiting for us anymore. And we had stayed because we were exactly those people who didn't have anywhere to return to. So we stayed, gave interviews and then partied with the others who were left.

Newton Geizsler and Hermann Gottlieb had also stayed. Both were still interested in finding out more about the kaiju. Mako joked that Newton and Gottlieb just wanted to make sure no one else could publish a better biology book about the kaiju.

Chuck and his cheerful bulldog Max had stayed as well, but in the hospital unit. Chuck's arm had been badly injured during the fight against Leatherback. He claimed to be staying for the free food and the pretty nurses.

I felt that the real reason was probably more similar to my own. Now Chuck was stranded with nowhere to go and nothing to do – just like I had been after Yancy had died in battle five years before. And no matter what Chuck could say, I also thought that Herc's death had hit Chuck harder than he would ever admit.

Chuck and I had really not been on friendly terms after we had first met. Chuck called me a coward and believed that rangers like me had been the downfall of the jaeger program. I had hated Chuck's lack of respect and his arrogance. But we had started to respect each other after the fight against Otachi and Leatherback. Even a stubborn guy like Chuck could not just ignore that Mako and I had saved his life. And I learned to admit that Chuck had been a great ranger. Hidden underneath all that ego and arrogance was a skilful and disciplined fighter and without him and Herc, many more lives would have been lost in the war.

So we celebrated and believed that nothing could bring humanity down again. Nothing. We really should have known better.

* * *

Mako gave Raleigh an exhausted pat on his upper arm and gently steered him away from another reporter who came hurrying towards them through the crowd of people in the big hall that held the jaeger bays.

"I think we should go and get something to eat. All these reporters are making me tired and hungry," Mako whispered. Raleigh was thankful that even his usually very polite partner could not be bothered answering the same question for the 16th time that day. He followed her into one of the elevators and let out a loud sigh as the doors closed behind them. Mako quickly pushed a button and the elevator stopped after only two levels. Raleigh gave her a confused look.

"The hospital? Did you get hurt?" he asked, following her through the doors into the quiet corridor. Before he could say anything else, Mako shook her head and pointed towards the door at the end of the corridor. A young nurse just hurried out of the door, leaving it open wide enough so that Raleigh could see Max rolling around on the floor. "I thought it would be rude to not go and see Chuck. You know he said he was alright and that no one needs to worry about him-"

_The way Chuck had worded that the day before had not sounded as nice_, Raleigh thought and grunted.

"- but I don't believe him when he says he is alright, Raleigh. I tried to help keep the reporters away from him because he would just yell at them anyway. I thought we should go and see him, just in case he would like some company," Mako finished and gave Raleigh a meaningful look.

"Oh no, no, no." Raleigh stopped walking and shook his head. "I'm not going to give him the 'survivor's guilt' and 'fallen hero' talk! Just because I respect his fighting skills doesn't mean I want to be his best friend or his psychiatrist!"

Mako raised her eyebrows. "How do you know what I was going to ask of you? I think you have spent too much time in here," she laughed and tapped her right temple with her finger. "Fine, you don't have to give him a talk. We should just go and say 'hello' and see if he needs anything. We were all a team, remember that"

Raleigh knew it would be useless to argue with Mako. She was just so polite and respectful. He gave her a defeated look and sighed. Without saying anything else, Mako knocked on the doorframe as she walked into Chuck's room.

Chuck had been looking out of the window through which the Hong Kong skyline was visible. He turned around and looked at Mako and Raleigh, first surprised, then annoyed.

"What do you want here?" he asked and turned his head towards the window again. Max jumped up, wagging his sorry little excuse of a tail, obviously excited about the visitors and probably expecting a treat.

Sensing a way to get out of the whole talk, Raleigh squatted down and let Max jump at him, patting the bulldog behind the ears. Mako ignored the dog and sat down on a chair next to Chuck's bed.

"We thought you should come downstairs and get some food or a drink while everyone is celebrating our victory tonight," Mako began. Chuck snorted and pointed at his bandaged arm. "Do I look like I want to celebrate anything?"

"Oh come on Chuck, you don't even need to be here! You're healthy enough to just get up and walk out of here," Raleigh called over from where he was playing with Max.

"You better shut up and don't tell me what I can or can't do!" Chuck snapped. "I don't need anyone's sympathy or company! And I sure as hell don't need any parties!"

Mako shook her head. "We're not here because we feel sorry for you, Chuck. All of us were a team. And without you, we wouldn't have won this war. We would be happy to see you later tonight if you change your mind" Mako got up from the chair and bowed her head slightly before leaving.

Raleigh gave Max a last pat on the head and got up. When he walked out behind Mako, he turned around to close the door and saw that Chuck was still staring out of the window, pretending no one had even been there. Raleigh felt a weird twinge of sadness at seeing the former proud ranger so defeated. _This must be what I looked like after Yancy's death_, he thought suddenly, before closing the door behind him.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I am trying hard to stay in character, haha.

This little "love story" will probably be a little drawn out, so don't expect to see puppy eyes and hear any "I love you"s too soon.

I like to actually include a PLOT in this, because Pacific Rim just deserves that.

Anyway, let me know if you liked it! I am already writing part 2 and have enough things for at least 10 chapters planned already, so stay tuned!


	2. Chapter 2

**Breach the Surface**

**Phase 02**

A few hours later, another party was in full swing. The canteen had been turned into a makeshift bar. Music was blaring from a transportable sound system that someone had gotten from God knows where. Cartons of beer were stacked in one corner of the room and someone had ordered more pizzas than anyone had seen during the war.

Raleigh was glad for the busy atmosphere. The encounter with Chuck had left him wondering what was going on in the Australian's head. But there was no time for this now.

He finished his beer while he was trying to understand what Newton was yelling at him from across the table. The music made it hard to understand what the scientist was even talking about. Newton started to gesticulate wildly and then laughed. He didn't notice that his flailing arm swept the beer he had just opened – his ninth bottle already – off the table, spilling it into Gottlieb's lap.

Gottlieb's face was enough for Raleigh to decide it would be better to leave the table and get another beer from the far corner of the room. Just when he turned around, he bumped into someone almost hard enough to fall over and land flat on his butt. Almost. The six beers he had had in the last hour played no role in this.

Chuck's reflexes were still fast enough to grab Raleigh's arm with his good hand. "Oh hey, you did come," Raleigh shouted over the noise once he found his balance. He looked at Chuck and tried to focus his eyes. The jaeger academy had been strict and the beer had been expensive during the war, so he was a bit out of practise … and the six beers he had had before might have been a bit too much. Chuck ignored the wide grin on Raleigh's face and that he was swaying from left to right a little bit, even when he didn't move.

"Maybe I shouldn't have," Chuck said, irritated. "Now, let go of me, old man," he continued and gave Raleigh an annoyed look. Raleigh realised he was still holding onto Chuck's arm for balance and quickly let go, causing him to sway a bit more.

"You should loosen up a bit, brat. Let's get ourselves some beers" And with that, Raleigh turned around and walked to the wall of beer cartons, in something that you could almost call a straight line.

Mako was sitting at another table, slowly sipping on her drink and laughing at something the girl next to her had just said. When she saw Raleigh, she waved but stopped in mid-motion when she saw Chuck following. Both of them had not seen her, so she went back to talking to her neighbour while still observing Chuck and Raleigh out of the corner of her eye. She didn't want this night to end in a bar fight.

But it didn't seem like Chuck was in a fighting mood. His bandaged right arm was still in a sling around his shoulder and he actually seemed to have something like a little smile on his face while waving to a group of young mechanics yelling and cheering at him from a table across the room.

Raleigh had already taken two beers from the cartons and waved Chuck to come to the small bar that was set up on one wall. Without saying anything, Chuck sat down on the stool next to Raleigh and emptied half the bottle in one gulp.

They sat there for what felt like ages without talking. Raleigh went and got more beer three times. After finishing his tenth beer, he began rocking his stool backwards and forwards absentmindedly. They still hadn't exchanged a word.

"You know what," Raleigh finally broke the silence between them, "you're a pretty damn good ranger, you know." His words sounded slurred from the alcohol. But they were sitting far enough from the speakers, so Chuck managed to understand him anyway.

"Mako respects you," he went on, playing with his empty beer bottle. "She told me you are just a brat sometimes but a good guy. But I'm not so sure."

Chuck rolled his eyes. "You're drunk, Becket. Just shut up."

"See, that's what I was talking about! You're just an asshole." Raleigh pointed at the other man with his beer bottle. "You think you're so much better than anyone else. You think you should have been the hero. You wished you had died in that jaeger and not your dad, so people would cheer your name everywhere, instead of your dad's…"

"Shut the fuck up, Becket!" Chuck yelled and rose from his stool. "You don't know anything at all!" He gave Raleigh an angry shove. Raleigh didn't manage to find his balance and fell over, landing on the floor.

"Don't you dare ever talk to me like that again, Becket!" Chuck spit on the floor next to Raleigh, turned around and stormed off. A few people at the closest table had watched the scene and were exchanging confused looks. Raleigh got back onto his feet, holding onto the bar. A worried looking Mako came hurrying towards him.

"What happened, Raleigh? Why were you fighting again?" She put a hand on his back and looked at him intensely. "Oh, you are drunk!" she exclaimed as if that explained everything.

"I am fine, Mako," Raleigh replied with a wave of his hand. "It's Chuck, that guy's just crazy. I am off to bed now," he added and made his way to the stairs without waiting for Mako's reply. She looked after him and shook her head. Why were these two so stubborn? She had been in Raleigh's head long enough to know that her partner didn't _hate_ Chuck at all. She had felt it as if it had been her own feelings. Raleigh respected and admired Chuck's skills. But he would never admit to actually liking him as a person.

Mako didn't stay much longer. She was tired and somehow Chuck's and Raleigh's behaviour worried her. They had all been brought together to fight as a team. But Chuck and Raleigh just didn't seem to realise that hating each other would help no one.

Mako had this strange feeling that something was not quite right. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she still didn't feel at peace. A shiver ran down her spine and she looked over her shoulder because she felt like she was being watched by… something. But there was no one, only Newton who staggered around the corner and disappeared into his room. The uneasy feeling didn't leave her all night.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was so much fun writing a drunk Raleigh. I think I should have gone a bit further. But I didn't want to turn this into something really silly, so I held myself back.

Chuck is so hard to write, though. I know what I want him to sound like but I am afraid he might seem a bit too confused right now. Maybe that fits his situation best, though.

I hope you can forgive me my English. It's not my first language and writing an entire story in English is something I have never really done before. I am trying very hard!


	3. Chapter 3

**Breach the Surface**

**Phase 03**

The next morning, Mako decided it would be best to fly to Tokyo and stay at an old family friend's house for a few days. Raleigh was sad to hear her plans, because she had become his best friend and had made staying at the shatterdome during the parties and excitement actually fun. But he could understand her. She had not seen any of her friends in months because the constant training and hard work at the shatterdome made a short holiday almost impossible.

"Take care of yourself, Raleigh. Don't do anything stupid," she told him jokingly as she zipped up her bag later that afternoon. A helicopter was waiting outside to take her and a few others to the Hong Kong airport.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, Mako," Raleigh laughed and gave her a tight hug. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and took a step back. "You can always call me if you need me," she said, waving her mobile phone. "I'm sure I will be back in time to finally say good bye to this place before they shut it down completely."

"I will probably stay here until then anyway," Raleigh admitted. He still had not decided where to go or what to do next.

"I hope so!" Mako picked up her bag, slung it around her shoulder and turned to leave. "And be nice to Chuck! No more fighting!" she called over her shoulder as she disappeared through the elevator door.

"Yeah, right…" Raleigh mumbled as he made his way to the canteen to get himself some dinner. It was quiet in the canteen today. No one had even bothered to clean up the remnants of the party the night before. Empty beer bottles were lying on the floor, pizza cartons stacked on the tables and only a handful of people were chatting at the bar.

Raleigh got himself a soup and sat down to eat.

"Hey Becket, feeling hung over?" Raleigh didn't even have to look up to know who was talking to him. "I can handle a few beers, don't you worry," he replied, turning is head into the direction of the voice. Chuck was sitting at the table next to him, sneering.

"Didn't look like that last night, did it? You couldn't even stay on your own feet" Chuck mocked him.

"How would you know, you were not even here," Raleigh turned back to his soup and kept eating.

"Oh, you had enough alcohol for a black out? And you call yourself a man?" Chuck called out loud; making sure the mechanics at the bar could hear him. "Better train your skills for next time, Becket, or you will make yourself look like an idiot again. Not that that's anything new."

And with that, Chuck got up and left. Raleigh noticed that there were only a few empty beer bottles left where Chuck had been sitting.

_What was he talking about?_ Raleigh wondered, brows furrowed. _I actually don't remember much of last night… _But knowing Chuck, he could just try to fuck with Raleigh for the fun of it. He decided not to worry about it.

* * *

It was the siren that woke Raleigh from his sleep. The high pitched screeching felt like hot nails behind his temples. Raleigh jolted up from his mattress and held his hands over his ears. _What the hell is going on!?_

Groaning, he climbed out of his bed and quickly got into his pants that were still lying on the floor from the evening before. He grabbed a shirt and stormed out of his room. The corridor was already filled with people. Someone was yelling. "Kaiju attack! It's a kaiju!"

_No, this can't be. This must be a mistake. _Raleigh's thoughts were racing. He pushed past the people blocking his way and came to a halt in front of LOCCENT. Tendo and a crew of five other technicians were already staring at the computer screen.

"_Kaiju category 3, codename: Scissure II. 7,500 tons," _a voice announced through the loudspeakers.

"Scissure?!" Raleigh stormed into the mission control room. "Scissure was killed more than ten years ago!" Tendo looked up from the computer screen at the sound of Raleigh's voice.

"Yes, but this one… is bigger. Scissure was only a category 2 kaiju, this one is at least 1,000 tons heavier. It seems to have exactly the same anatomy, though." Tendos voice sounded surprisingly calm. He was professional through and through.

"Where the hell did it come from?!" Chuck stormed into LOCCENT, Max following on his heels.

Tendo shook his head. "We don't know yet. Our computer system picked it up. We were lucky that we had not unplugged everything yet. We have informed all governments. The kaiju seems to be on its way to Australia. We still have two hours left before it could get on land."

"And what are we _doing _against it?" Chuck asked. "We don't have any jaegers left!"

Tendo sighed. "The army will have to bring it down with bombs, just like in the good old days."

"We can't let that happen, Tendo!" Raleigh protested. "There is no time to evacuate, people will die!" _This is a nightmare. Where did this thing come from?_

"We don't have any other choice, Becket! Hansen is right, there are no jaegers left! Even if we had any, you two and Miss Mori are the only rangers still in service! That's not even enough to pilot two jaegers!"

"What if we re-active a retired jaeger?"

Tendo, Chuck and Raleigh turned around and noticed that Newton had come into LOCCENT. He looked tired but optimistic as always.

"Aren't there a handful left, kept in storage in case we needed steel and parts to repair one of the active jaegers? I know this scientist in Peru; he worked on a retired jaeger"

Raleigh felt a flicker of hope. "That could work! This kaiju is not even as big as Knifehead, one jaeger can bring it down!"

Tendo stood up and starting pacing up and down in front of the mission control desks.

"Even if we can get our hands on a retired jaeger, and even if the jaeger is still functioning, there is no possible way to get it moved from Peru to Hong Kong and then to Australia in time."

"I will go any make some calls anyway!" Newton called out excitedly and disappeared into the room next door.

* * *

But Tendo was right. There was no time. We could do nothing but stare at the computer screens and watch Scissure II reach the shore of Queensland. Tendo stayed on the phone the whole time, supplying the army with vital data about the behaviour, toxicity and weaknesses of the kaiju rampaging through Brisbane.

I felt useless. It was one thing to sit in a jaeger and try your best, but it was depressing to watch without being able to help.

The battle went on for five hours. Three nuclear bombs were necessary to kill the kaiju. Thousands of people could not be evacuated in time. We watched as the Australian coast was bombed to pieces.

I wondered if Mako was watching the whole thing on TV from her friend's house in Tokyo. Did she feel as useless as I did?

Chuck had kept protesting for hours before he finally realised that here was really no way we could have helped. He patted Max's head absentmindedly while watching the battle on TV. He became unusually quiet.

When it was over, the atmosphere in the shatterdome was unbearable. Our dream of the peace we had fought so hard for had been crushed. Everyone seemed lost, no one knew what to do next. It was Newton who saved the day.

* * *

"Tendo! We got him! Puma Real! A mark-2 jaeger, stationed in the Panama City shatterdome. He got a few scratches, but is still in working condition. He was retired because one of the rangers died from cancer, because they didn't take the Metharocin regulations seriously. The shutterdome was shut down before they could find a replacement for the ranger."

"Too late, Geiszler, the kaiju is dead," Tendo replied. He looked tired. Tendo had been up half of the night and the whole day to coordinate the battle against Scissure.

Before Newton could say anything else, one of Tendo's technicians let out a surprised yelp. She pointed at the computer projection in front of her. "We found it! There is another Breach. It is at a completely different location, roughly 2,500 miles Northeast of New Zealand. No activity at the moment."

"That can't be… where did that come from?" Tendo groaned and started massaging his temples to calm himself down. "Inform the government representatives. We will keep watching that thing day and night!"

"Now maybe we could use a new jaeger, don't you think?" Newton put a document on the desk in front of Tendo. "Here are all contacts and the jaeger stats. You just need to give an order and they will fly Puma Real here. The jaeger could be here in less than 8 hours."

* * *

And that is exactly what they did. Tendo gave his orders and the jaeger was transported to Hong Kong. Puma Real was an older jaeger, built almost a decade ago. Nevertheless, it was impressive. It had two long claws on each forearm, protruding past the huge fists. It was built stockier than the agile Striker Eureka, but with heavier armour. On its back was a flat, fin-like "sail" running down the jaegers spine. It reminded Raleigh of some kind of prehistoric shark. Newton told him that the fin was used for stability and sharp like a knife. Should a kaiju attempt to attack the jaegers back, the fin could easily slice off limbs.

Mako was called back from Tokyo to stay at the shatterdome in case of another kaiju attack.

But there was none. Each day, the crew anticipated to see movement in the Breach. Each night, Raleigh expected to hear the siren again. For the next four weeks, the technicians were doing test runs on Puma Real and improved everything they could possibly manage to improve with the little funds they had left.

The governments had decided to stay alert and wait if there would be another attack. Raleigh had overheard conversations between Tendo's crew and it seemed that the jaeger program might be brought back. But for now, no funding had been agreed to, so all they could do was wait.

Chuck had fully recovered and spent most of his days in the training rooms to get back in shape.

Then something moved in the Breach.

* * *

"No way!" Chuck slammed his fist onto Tendo's desk. "That's not going to happen!"

"Calm down, Hansen," Tendo tried to calm down the angry ranger. "We don't have any other chance. You have to try drifting with Raleigh, or you will endanger millions of lives! Just swallow your pride for a moment, for God's sake!" Tendo was yelling now, obviously infuriated about Chuck's resistance.

"You have fought in Puma Real before! I looked through your certificates from the academy. I know it was only for simulations, but you are familiar with the jaeger. If you didn't have that advantage, I would get Mori and Becket into the jaeger, but Mori is still a rookie, despite her experience in Gipsy! You two are the best pilots we can get for this jaeger!"

Chuck didn't say anything and stared through the glass window that separated the Mission Control centre from the jaeger outside. The siren's screeching was excruciating.

"Fine! Get the suits!" Chuck stormed out of the room. Just as he walked out of the door, Raleigh almost ran into him. "Quick!" he just yelled and kept running towards the drivesuit room. Chuck followed him.

Four drivesuit technicians were already waiting for them. "We have to hurry, the kaiju is only 150 miles off the coast now!" someone was calling from behind Raleigh.

Two minutes later, Chuck and Raleigh were in their full suits, ready to board the Conn-Pod. Raleigh gave Chuck a light punch on the arm. "Let's do this, Hansen!"

Chuck just glared at him but didn't say anything. He knew that lives depended in this. Raleigh appeared to be positive that they would be drift compatible. Chuck was convinced that it wouldn't work. How could he and Raleigh possibly be in sync long enough to pilot a jaeger? But he kept his mouth shut while the technicians connected him to the Conn-Pod.

"_We will now begin initiating the drift connection,"_ they heard Tendo's voice over the loudspeaker. _"Remember, boys, this has to work. Try your best, okay?" _"You can count on us!" Raleigh answered, sounding more optimistic than he felt. _"Come back in one piece!" _they heard Mako call. Hearing her voice calmed down Raleigh a bit. He had accepted Tendo's orders to drift with Chuck because it made sense; Chuck knew the jaeger. But it made him feel a bit uneasy.

"_Initiating drift in three…"_

Raleigh turned to Chuck and gave his soon-to-be partner a quick nod. To his surprise, Chuck returned the gesture.

"… two …"

Raleigh closed his eyes and breathed out, trying to calm his racing mind, anticipating the sensation of drifting with someone who seemed to hate him. It was ironic; he thought and had to hold back a snort.

"… one…"

_Silence. _

_Mum, come and look at this, there is a monster on TV – birds singing in the garden - where is dad, why is he never home anymore –scared - his first kiss - the warm sun on his skin, the sand of the beach under his feet – Yancy stole my chocolate again, ma, why does he always get the chocolate – it is so hot – the cold rain, wind in his hair – a puppy from dad, did he get him for me, what's his name, I will call him Max, he will be my best friend – happy - it's dark outside, where is Yancy, he's late for dinner – wait I never had a brother – get out of my head – _

_This isn't working, stop it, get me out of here, why does he sound so confused, scared –_

_What's wrong, you've done it so many times, we both have – the stars in the perfect night sky, there Yancy, look, a shooting star – I wish for Dad to come back home, mum, what if the monsters kill him – – the taste of his first beer Max is chasing seagulls – Yancy just broke my bike – I love the snow – _

_I don't want you in my head – first day at the jaeger academy, finally dad, I missed you so much – we can do this, we will do this, Yancy – _

_Look dad, it's the Becket brothers, they are heroes – embarrassed – flattered – I was never a hero – cold seawater on his face – the kaiju is so close, it is so loud – panic – Yancy, where are you, you can't leave me, we are a team, silence –_

_Why can't we do this, this has to work, we are a team– Max is snoring – tired – dad, don't go, let me go – silence - _

"_What's going on?! Why are they not syncing?"_

_Come on, make this work, we are a team, we are a team, we are –_

Raleigh gasped. He could not breathe. Next to him he heard, no felt, Chuck panting hard. _He felt panic, he was scared, Chuck was so angry, why was he so angry - what did I ever do to you, Chuck, you've never done anything to me – shame – I never knew what it must have been like to feel someone dying while drifting, you were my hero, I wanted to be like you – _

_Their thoughts were racing, intertwining, their emotions and memories blurring, they forgot who was thinking what, why had they ever fought, why hated - they were a team –_

"_100% synced, Sir! Drift connection stable! Initiating neural handshake!_

Then they snapped out of their confusion. Suddenly, without warning, they were thinking perfectly clear. Feeling a mix of blurred emotions, but thinking fast.

"I… I think it worked…" Chuck was breathing hard. Raleigh flexed his right hand, feeling Puma Real's giant claws moving as if they were his own flesh and bone. It had worked. He felt Chuck's movements, his breath, his heartbeat. They had become one with the machine.

He felt Chuck's relief and his excitement. They were both excited to go out there again and fight the kaiju.

"Okay, we will get you out there now. We still have 5 minutes left before the kaiju will enter the 10 mile range. We are counting on you!" Tendo's voice sounded far away, as if it was part of a different time, a different life, a different universe. Chuck and Raleigh nodded.

The process of deploying the jaeger felt painfully slow. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Raleigh felt almost euphoric once the jaeger was lifted into the ocean.

His drift with Yancy had always felt like a game with his brother. They had been close since Raleigh had been born. It had been a comfortable experience. Drifting with Mako had been new, completely new. She was powerful, but delicate. Being connected to her made him feel fast, light and agile. It had been a pleasant connection.

But Chuck felt so different. He was almost a stranger; there was none of that familiarity Raleigh had experienced with Yancy. Chuck was powerful like a bull, determined, stubborn and aggressive.

Raleigh felt like he – they – could do anything they wanted. He let out an elated laugh. And he could feel Chuck's silent approval. When he turned to look at his co-pilot, it was the first time he saw Chuck genuinely smiling at him.

"I didn't expect… this," Chuck said, seemingly at a loss of words. Raleigh felt Chuck's slight embarrassment and his own heart skipping a beat. Oh, now it was his own embarrassment mixed with Chuck's, but that was alright. They were one now, nothing to worry about except for the kaiju's spiked back appearing between the ocean's waves in front of them.

* * *

**A/N:**

Oh my god, this was so much fun to write. So messy, so cheesy, but so so so much fun.  
I took the inspiration for the drift from the novel and just made it a lot messier.  
I thought the process of two minds becoming one should be a lot more confusing and stressful than shown in the movie.

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Phase 04 – Respect**

"_Category 3 kaiju. Code name: Viper. Weight: 1,700 tons. Length: 350 feet. Very venomous."_ One of the technicians gave them the stats about the kaiju.

Raleigh and Chuck saw a spiked back rise from the water less than one hundred feet in front of the jaeger. Then a long tail jolted towards the dark sky and came crashing against Puma Real's left side. The rangers prepared for the impact. A sharp pain shot through their sides but they did not fall. Puma Real tried to grab the tail but it was too quick.

Then Viper's head emerged from the ocean. It resembled a huge snake head, but with six eyes that glowed bright blue. Two rows of long spikes ran along the back of the kaiju's head, down the spine. Despite its snake-like appearance, the kaiju also seemed to have two arms and two legs which ended in three claws.

The kaiju opened its mouth and a long blue tongue darted towards the Conn-Pod. Puma Real dodged the attack and charged towards the kaiju's torso. The jaegers huge fists grabbed the kaiju's long neck and one of its arms. Viper let out an angry hissing scream and squirmed, trying to escape the steel claws.

The long tongue wrapped itself around the jaegers right arm, and Raleigh screamed as he felt the burning sensation. _The tongue must be covered in acid_, he thought but his held on tight to the kaiju's throat. He felt Chuck lift the heavy left arm and watched as the long steel claws of Puma Real's hand severed the kaiju's head from its torso.

Raleigh and Chuck breathed heavily as they stood and watched the kaiju's body and head disappear in the sea. Then a weird mix of relief and joy washed over them as their emotions mixed.

"We did it! That little wanker won't come back!" Chuck shouted out loud. He could feel Raleigh's amusement at that.

"_Well done, boys. We will get you out of there now. Time for a beer!"_ Tendo sounded as relieved as the felt. In the background they could hear Mako's excited congratulations. _She usually doesn't get that excited, _Raleigh thought. "Maybe even _she_ didn't expect us to be drift compatible," his co-pilot answered and laughed.

Now, after the heat of the battle and with both of them still in the drift, the effects of their connection hit Raleigh. With the adrenaline gone and their heartbeats slowing, he could begin to appreciate that he had just found a new drift partner.

Chuck had so much energy, it was like part of Raleigh's body was trying to tame a bear with every movement. He could feel the grief about losing Herc. He could feel the loneliness that was so typical for someone who had been raised at the jaeger academy from a very young age. And somewhere he could still feel a trace of disappointment. Disappointment in him, because he had once been a hero to the teenage Chuck, and then had gone into hiding like a little coward once he lost his brother. _That's why you hated me so much, Chuck…? _He bit back a comment because he was uncomfortably aware that Chuck knew exactly what he was thinking right that second. But the other man didn't say a word; Raleigh could feel that he was busy sorting out the memories as well.

* * *

The door to the Conn-Pod opened, and a group of technicians swarmed into the cockpit, helping the pilots to disconnect from the jaeger equipment. Raleigh felt a little dizzy after they had ended the drift. All that extra energy was gone, leaving his legs feeling a bit too weak. He stumbled and held onto a young woman who was busy disconnecting Chuck's spinal cord from his suit.

"Hey, are you alright, Raleigh?" She turned around and gave him a worried look.

"Just a little dizzy," Raleigh mumbled and took the hand of her shoulder.

"Was this too much for you, Becket?" Chuck grinned and flexed his arm muscles mockingly. "I thought you could take a bit more than that. Even my old man could." He was laughing but Raleigh could have sworn Chuck looked more upset than amused when he said that. He hopped off the foot clasps and slapped Raleigh on the back. "I didn't want to drain you like that."

"Would you just shut up now," Raleigh groaned and followed Chuck out of the Conn-Pod rather inelegantly. He had just stepped outside when Mako rushed towards them.

"You did a great job, you two!" she gave Raleigh a quick hug and Chuck a pat on the shoulder. "I knew you would be a great team!" Raleigh thanked her but couldn't help but feel that Mako must have been quite disappointed that she had not been allowed to pilot the jaeger. She didn't say anything out of respect but being the only pilot to stay behind and watch her friends fight must have been hard.

* * *

Half an hour later, they were sitting in the canteen and enjoying the beers Tendo had promised. Even Chuck had agreed to stay for a drink with Tendo, Raleigh, Mako, Newton, Hermann and a few of Tendo's technicians.

Newton, Tendo and two of the LOCCENT girls were chatting about the fight and the new jaeger. Congratulating Raleigh and Chuck and making plans how to get a second jaeger and even more importantly, who to get as a fourth ranger.

"I am sure we can get another retired jaeger from Russia. I heard they kept Nova Hyperion in a museum after a kaiju bit off its arm and the repairs would have been too expensive," Newton told them. He was really getting into this. "It's a mark-4 jaeger, very powerful. It's the last one that is left of those. We should get it here and try to repair it."

"The only problem is that neither China, nor Australia, nor the USA have agreed to future funding yet," Tendo interrupted. "Without the financial help, there is nothing we can do. I am still waiting for their decision."

"How long will that take?" Raleigh asked. "The kaiju today was only a relatively small category 3, but what if the next one is a category 4 or even 5? With one mark-2 jaeger, we won't stay alive very long."

"I expect a decision by tomorrow night." Tendo shrugged. "In case they decide to bring back the jaeger program, we should start looking for a few new rangers as well. Mako, would you like to do that? I trust your judgement."

"Of course!" Mako seemed happy to hear that she might get the chance to find capable rangers who could pilot another jaeger. She had done that many times before. And this time she was probably hoping to not just find a ranger, but find another co-pilot for herself.

* * *

"Hey, I guess now we can stop playing mind games, right?" Raleigh looked at Chuck, not really knowing what kind of reply to expect.

The others had left to go to bed or to return in front of the computers. Only Raleigh and Chuck had stayed behind in the canteen. The truth was, Raleigh had been waiting for them to leave so he had the chance to talk to Chuck alone.

Drifting was this intimate connection that would only result in awkward silence if you couldn't manage to open up to each other outside of the Conn-Pod. Raleigh remembered just too good how awkward it had been after he and Yancy had drifted for the first time. Knowing the deepest secrets of your brother does that to you. But after a few times in the drift, they had learned to see it as some kind of game. Truth or dare; whoever wanted to hide something lost the game, and the loser had to pay for pizza.

But his and Chuck's relationship had been rocky from the first day, so he didn't want to pass on a chance to make things a bit more pleasant for everyone. He knew how much depended on it now.

Chuck turned his head and looked at Raleigh for a long moment without saying anything. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Just when Raleigh wanted to give up the staring contest, Chuck said, "It was the first time I ever drifted with someone else than Herc, you know? It is something I have to get used to." He took a sip out of his beer bottle. "But now that you have been in my head and seen everything, I don't know what to say."

_Chuck doesn't know what to say? When has that ever happened? _Raleigh just nodded and waited for Chuck to go on.

"You saw why I treated you the way I did. And… I am sorry."

Raleigh was taken aback. He certainly didn't expect an apology.

Chuck went on, "I thought you were a coward for running away like that. But I had no idea what it felt like to _feel_ someone's death. I could feel it in your memories. And now that I have seen that, I can't really say I wouldn't have run."

Raleigh put his beer down and stared at the table top for a few seconds before answering. "And I am sorry for assuming you were a self-centered brat with daddy issues. I could feel how much Herc meant to you. You were a great team. And somehow I feel lucky that I got to fight alongside you today."

He saw a small smile play around Chuck's lips. "Hey, we are a team now," he said and raised his bottle against Raleigh's with a 'cling' before emptying it.

* * *

Oooooh, are Chuck and Raleigh becoming friends here or what?

I am still so bummed that they never got to drift in the movie, that would have been awesome.

I like Mako, but I really expected Raleigh and Chuck to make up and fight together at the end of the movie.

Please let me know if you enjoyed it! Thank you very much! c:


	5. Chapter 5

**Phase 05 – Preparations**

There were no further kaiju attacks the following weeks. During our first drift, Chuck and I had made a silent agreement to start treating each other respectfully; some might even call it friendly. Later that day we had sealed the deal with a beer. We knew we could not keep acting like little kids if we were the only active rangers left. We spent many hours in the drift together, training for future battles in the simulator.

* * *

Raleigh wiped the sweat off his forehead. It was incredibly hot inside the simulator. The humid weather in Hong Kong was very uncomfortable for someone born and grown up in Alaska. Of course, Chuck had no problem with the heat at all.

They were getting ready for their second drift. It was only for a training battle, but the sensation would be just the same as in a real Conn-Pod. Chuck was already wearing his helmet and waited for Raleigh to get ready. Striker Eureka's dark green drivesuit had been replaced with a brand new, sleek, black suit that matched Raleigh's.

The Pan Pacific Defense Corps had surprisingly agreed to start funding the jaeger program again. They had finally realised that the Wall of Life had never been a real option. The only way to win the war was to do more research on the kaiju and the breach – and to build top quality jaegers that would defend the shores until a permanent solution would be found.

Hermann and Newton were delighted because they had received new equipment and several assistants. Other research centres would be established around the world within less than a month. Jaeger factories in the USA and Russia had already been re-opened and were currently designing a new line of mark-6 jaegers; faster and stronger than any jaeger that had ever existed before.

Raleigh put on his helmet as well and squeezed his eyes shut as the relay gel was pumped into his entire suit.

"_Inititating drift connection in three – two – one –"_

Raleigh felt the strange sensation wash over him again. He tried to stay calm this time and relaxed his hands that he had clenched into fists unconsciously.

The drift felt less overwhelming this time. Between the mangled memories and emotions, Raleigh found Chuck's heartbeat and the rhythm of his breath. But he also felt new emotions that had not been there during their first drift. Happiness? Appreciation? Trust?

It sent a strange tingle through Raleigh's stomach. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on. But his experience as a ranger told him not to hang on to any emotions in the drift. That would only throw them off balance.

Just as quickly as it had come, the rush of emotions and memories stopped and turned into a clear stream of thoughts. They were synced.

"_Okay boys, neural handshake complete. You are ready to go. Remember, try to get through the battles without any damage to the jaeger. That is our main training goal today!"_ Tendo's voice told them.

"Understood!" Chuck and Raleigh called out in unison and took up a defensive stance. The simulated battles that followed were a success. They managed to win every fight without their jaeger getting damaged at all.

We were a good team. I had to admit that fighting with Chuck was actually fun. I started to look forward to the daily training battles. They became the highlights of my days in the shatterdome. I knew Chuck began to enjoy them as well. Each time we drifted, we seemed to get to a new level. Our connection became stronger, our bond deeper and our fighting better.

* * *

Sometimes I missed Mako. She had become a very good friend to me and lately everyone was so busy that we rarely found time to talk. At first I had been worried that she might take the new team set up personally. But I should I have known better than that. She respected Tendo's choice and enjoyed watching Chuck and me fight alongside each other.

Before I had arrived in Hong Kong, she had been on friendly terms with Chuck. That he and I had been fighting all the time made her sad, so she was very glad to see us get along. But really, everyone seemed to be happy about it. I think they saw us as some kind of dream team that gave them hope. It had the same effect on me.

Our training sessions had another effect on me as well. The strange happiness returned every time Chuck and I were in the drift. At first I dismissed it. But after a week, I began to wonder.

Every ranger knows that if you spend a lot of time in the drift with someone, you begin to feel their presence even when you are not connected anymore. Pentecost had once told me that it was like someone was pulling at your mind. The further apart two co-pilots were, the stronger the feeling became.

Yancy and I had shared a very strong bond; we had always felt connected, no matter where we had been. After his death, the feeling had stayed with me. Day and night, something was pulling at me. In the past five years, I had gotten used to it.

Mako and I had a bond, too. But ours was weaker because we had only drifted together twice. Our bond was more that of traditional friendship than anything else.

I knew Chuck and I were forming a stronger bond with each drift. When I was lying in my bed, I felt the silence in my head like a heavy blanked being spread over me.

Despite spending hours in the drift, Chuck and I had not talked a lot. Right before and after the drift, we just felt like there was nothing left to say. But whenever I was alone at night, I lay awake, thinking about him. I really didn't want to admit it at the time, but now I know that I was slowly falling for Chuck.

* * *

Raleigh was lying on his bed, going through the last test battles in his head again and again. It was a relaxing habit he had picked up in the jaeger academy. But that night his mind kept wandering off. One second he was thinking about the kaiju's attack pattern and the next second he could hear Chuck's hoarse laugh. Then he started thinking about his partner's smile and how much he had started to love seeing it because it was so rare.

_Damn it!_ Raleigh swore inwardly and turned around in his bed, burying his head under the pillow. A loud knocking on his door made him jump. He groaned as he got out of his bed. "Coming!" he called and yawned. He quickly put on his pants and opened the heavy steel door.

In front of his door was – Chuck! He held up two beers and smiled apologetically as he saw Raleigh's messy hair and sleepy eyes.

"I thought we both deserve a drink after a full week of training," he said with a shrug and pushed his way past Raleigh without waiting for an invitation. Raleigh yawned again as he closed the door behind Chuck.

"Sure, make yourself at home," he mumbled and took a t-shirt out of his tiny wardrobe. Chuck had already sat down on Raleigh's bed and opened the bottles. For a second, Raleigh hesitated and then decided to take a seat on the chair he used for his little desk. He took one of the beers that Chuck offered him and emptied half of it in one gulp.

_I wanted to talk to him for days. But what was I actually going to tell him? God, maybe I really am a coward._ Raleigh's thoughts were racing while he tried very hard to appear relaxed.

"Funny, isn't it?" Chuck finally broke the silence. Raleigh gave him a confused look. "I mean, how we became a team. Who would have thought that?" He took a sip from his beer and stared at Raleigh, seemingly expecting some kind of reply. Raleigh just nodded slowly.

_In the drift everything seems so easy,_ he thought. _Why isn't it this easy when we actually have to use our mouths to talk?! _

"You know, I never had many friends here," Chuck continued. "Well, of course you know that already, but… I don't know…" he hesitated. "I guess talking feels good sometimes?" Another long pause. "Dad and I never used to talk. We knew exactly what we felt because we spent so many days in the drift. But we never actually_ said_ it… After his death I realized how much I regret never telling him what he meant to me. But the war, it makes you try to hide all your feelings and pretend nothing could ever hurt you." Chuck let out an angry snort. "I sound like an idiot, talking about feelings. I think I should have stopped after the last beer." He stared at the wall above Raleigh's head now.

"No, you don't," Raleigh said, hardly louder than a whisper. Chuck's gaze returned to Raleigh's eyes, questioning.

"You don't sound like an idiot, I mean," Raleigh added. "I know what it feels like to lose someone before you ever get to tell them how much they mean to you. It hurts. But regretting it doesn't help. Herc knew what was going on in your head. He must have been proud of you. You shouldn't regret how things went between you two."

Chuck nodded slowly. "You were my hero, Raleigh," he changed the subject. Raleigh felt the heat rising to his cheeks. Sometimes he just did not know how to handle Chuck's bluntness. "Don't be embarrassed!" Chuck let out a laugh before becoming serious again. "I was 14 when I watched you and Yancy fight in Los Angeles. You and Yancy were celebrated like rock stars. A year later, I became a ranger myself and the whole time, I wanted to be like you. I can be lucky to be your co-pilot today."

"You are a hero yourself now," Raleigh replied lamely. He didn't know what else to say.

"Oh, I know!" Chuck flashed his usual cocky smile. "I better let you get some sleep now, _partner_. The next training session is scheduled for tomorrow at 9 am." He got up from the bed and gave Raleigh a slap on the shoulder as he walked past.

As he reached the door, he turned around to Raleigh. "Do you know why _you _were my favourite?" he asked with a sly smile on his lips. Before Raleigh could say anything, Chuck added, "Because I think I had a huge crush on you when I was a teenager." And with that, he was gone.

Raleigh stared at the closed door for a minute. "What the…?"

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! (:


	6. Chapter 6

**Phase 06 – Drive**

Raleigh didn't get any more sleep that night. He kept thinking about what Chuck had said. Was he serious or was it just his weird sense of humour? Raleigh tried to recall what he had felt in the drift. Everything had been so confusing. Then it hit him. The tingle he had felt in his stomach every time they drifted! Maybe that had been a remainder of Chuck's teenage crush on Raleigh.

And then Raleigh caught himself wondering: Was it only that? A remainder? What if Chuck still had those feelings for him? The drift lets you feel everything your partner feels. But when your partner is confused and can't sort out their own feelings, you won't ever get a clear picture. You just feel lots of different emotions that don't seem to make any sense.

_Shit, I can't waste my time thinking about this! We have to prepare for the next kaiju attack. Childish crushes will just distract us_, Raleigh thought. It was frustrating. But no matter how often he kept telling himself that, his mind always wandered back to Chuck.

_What exactly am I feeling for him?_ he kept asking himself. _I used to think he was just an asshole. But now I know better, and I actually enjoy his company. His presence in my mind during the drifts feels… energizing. Ugh, I just don't know what he means to me! _Raleigh threw his pillow against the wall in frustration.

Maybe he should talk to Mako. She was a very sensible person. She might have an answer to his problems. But then Raleigh imagined talking to her about a _crush_ he had. On Chuck! He just couldn't bring himself to do that.

After what felt like hours, Raleigh finally drifted off into a light sleep.

* * *

Raleigh dreaded the moment he would face Chuck in the simulator later that morning. What should he say to him? Should he say anything at all? He shuffled along the corridor towards the drivesuit room with his eyes on the floor.

"Wow, Raleigh, you look like shit!" Raleigh looked up and saw Chuck leaning in the doorway to the drivesuit room, already dressed in shiny, sleek black.

"Well, thank you very much. You look great, too," he grumbled.

"Not enough sleep last night, huh?" Chuck asked and raised his eyebrows suggestively. "Did something keep you up?"

Raleigh just stared at him.

"... some_one_?" Chuck nudged him with his elbow.

"Would you just shut up?!" Raleigh snapped, a bit more aggressive than he had intended.

But his co-pilot seemed more amused than offended. Chuckling, he turned around and walked towards the simulator.

"I'll wait for you in the simulator," he called over his shoulder and disappeared through the door.

Two of Tendo's technicians had watched the scene while getting Raleigh's drivesuit ready for him. They exchanged amused looks but didn't say anything.

Two minutes later, Raleigh was beside Chuck in the simulator, ready to go. Despite his rough night, the drift went smoothly and their test battles satisfied Tendo.

"Hey, you two are getting better and better!" he told them after they got out of the simulator. "We all enjoy watching your fights, it's better than wrestling on TV," he laughed. The young assistant by his side nodded.

"But we got more good news," Tendo went on. "The first mark-6 jaeger will be ready for launch tomorrow. They are currently transporting it here; it should arrive in a few hours."

"That's great!" Raleigh exclaimed. "Can we see it when it gets here?"

"Of course you can! You two and Mako will be the first to know as soon as it arrives, I promise."

"Who will pilot it?" Chuck asked. "Has Mako found anyone?"

Tendo nodded. "She will be one of the pilots. She's still a rookie but her discipline is unmatched. She has invited several kids from the last jaeger academy class before they shut it down. Some of them have never even been in a real fight, but she seems to be convinced that she will find a few good teams."

Raleigh looked confused. "A _few_ teams?"

"Yes, we will only get one new jaeger today. But there are two more coming within a month. We need teams to pilot those, too. Maybe we will just keep Puma Real as a spare, though. So you two might get your very own mark-6, too. Either way, you will love them! I've seen the specs and the mark-3's and even mark-4's will look like toys compared to the new ones."

"Sounds good. Let us know when the first one is here. We should go get some lunch; I am starving," Chuck interrupted Tendo's excited speech. He promised to give them a call later that afternoon and returned to LOCCENT.

"Hey Raleigh, want to get out of here for a bit?" he asked as they were walking down the corridor towards their rooms.

"What are you thinking of?" Raleigh looked at him, suspecting nothing good. But Chuck just shrugged and crossed his arms behind his head, stretching.

"I will show you when we get there."

* * *

Raleigh held onto his seat and yelled, "Do you even know what the hell you're doing?!"

Chuck laughed as he steered the little red Hyundai through the streets of Hong Kong.

"I'm a top jaeger pilot; don't you trust me to drive this little fish can?" He crossed a red light and missed a turning taxi by inches.

"No, not really!" Raleigh yelled. "Where did you even get this car?"

"Herc bought it last year to get around the city. He taught me how to drive whenever we had a day off."

_Herc had been a great ranger_, Raleigh thought as they were crossing another red light and almost knocking over a motorbike, _but he sure as hell had not known how to drive a car._

"What's wrong Raleigh? Are you scared?" Chuck examined Raleigh's pale face.

"Keep your eyes at the road, for God's sake!" A bus drove past them and honked its horn.

Fifteen frightening minutes later, Chuck stopped the car in front of a little fish restaurant in the middle of what seemed to be an industrial area. Raleigh got out of the car and looked around. He could not spot anything special. The area seemed to be mostly abandoned. The windows of several warehouses were broken and containers had been left next to the street long enough for ivy to grow on them.

"Come on, Raleigh. Get moving," Chuck called and stepped to the little window of the fish restaurant. When Raleigh followed, the cook just handed Chuck a paper bag and wished them a good day.

"What are we doing here?" Raleigh asked, trying to peer into the bag. It smelled good. He had not noticed how hungry he was.

"Just taking a short break from work," Chuck said and turned to walk around the warehouse. "Follow me, I want to show you something."

They climbed over a barb wire fence behind the warehouse and ended up in an old yard that looked like it had once belonged to the port. More empty containers were stacked left and right. Rusty cranes lined the quay like withering flowers. At the far and of the yard Raleigh could see a warehouse that looked like it had been the victim of a kaiju's massive foot.

"This is where Mako and I fought against Leatherback!" Raleigh finally recognized the place.

Chuck nodded and led them through two cranes to an old pier that seemed to reach into the ocean for at least quarter of a mile. The old timber boards creaked under their feet with every step. At the end of the pier, Chuck sat down, dangling his feet over the edge. He patted the wood next to him and waited for Raleigh to sit down before taking the food out of the paper bag. He had bought a bunch of different skewers with fish, pork and beef. They were delicious.

"I haven't had anything this good to eat in years!" Raleigh said as he bit off the last piece of beef. "For the last five years I've worked my ass off to have a handful of food stamps at the end of the day. And believe me, what they served at the wall construction site could hardly be called 'food' in the first place."

Chuck laughed and laid back, leaning onto his elbows. They sat at the pier for a long time and just watched the dark blue ocean and listened to the sound of the waves, without talking. When Raleigh finally turned around, he saw Chuck had been watching him. For a long second, their eyes met. Raleigh felt like he should say something, but he had a lump in his throat. Then Chuck looked away.

"Maybe we should go back," he said. His voice sounded strangely hoarse. "Tendo will probably call us soon to go and have a look at the newcomer. I know you can't wait to see it." He got to his feet and offered Raleigh his hand. Raleigh grabbed it and let Chuck pull him to his feet. Their hands only touched for a second, but Raleigh was surprised how good the warmth felt against his skin.

"You're right, let's have a look at it," he said quickly. They made their way back to the shatterdome. Raleigh wondered how they even managed to get back there without Chuck killing them both in his little red car.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed this! I would love if you left a comment 3


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Not much Chuck in this chapter, but I promise lots and lots of Chuck / Raleigh action in the next chapter, trust me!

* * *

**Phase 07 – Friendship**

Raleigh and Chuck were just getting out of the car in front of the Shatterdome when Raleigh's mobile phone started ringing.

"Oy, Tendo!" he answered the phone. "Yes, we're on our way. We will see you in a minute!"

Chuck locked the Hyundai.

"It's here, Chuck! They just brought the mark-6 inside!" Raleigh said as he put the phone back into his pocket. "Let's go!"

They hurried into the elevator and waited for the twenty long seconds it took to get down to the main hall. Tendo was already waiting for them at the door. He seemed very excited.

"Come on, boys!" He led them to bay number 03. "Look at this beauty!" Raleigh and Chuck looked up at the towering machine. It was huge.

"Wow, that is -" Raleigh started. "- just amazing!" finished Chuck and shielded his eyes so he could see the jaeger better under the bright spot lights. The jaeger was at least 300 feet tall, even bigger than the already impressive Cherno Alpha had been. It was painted green and blue. Its body looked similar to that of Striker Eureka but the Conn-Pod looked entirely different from anything they had ever seen before. It seemed heavily armoured and a long, sharp horn seemed to protrude from its "forehead", giving it a dragon-like look.

"It seems the designers learned from the kaiju," Raleigh said and pointed at the horn. "It reminds me of Knifehead," he said and frowned.

"That was their inspiration," Tendo confirmed. "The Conn-Pod is protected by two extra layers of the best steel on this planet. A kaiju will have huge difficulties, tearing_ that_ apart." He pointed at the arms of the jaeger. "Each arm carries a liquid nitrogen cannon. We analysed your battle with Otachi and realised that kaiju appeared to be weak against it. The nitrogen in each arm should be enough to freeze a whole kaiju. The extra heavy armour makes it a bit slower than Striker Eureka, but we have never had a jaeger with a better defence. His name is Dragon Flare. Suits him, doesn't it?"

Raleigh and Chuck were impressed.

"Has Mako seen it yet?" Raleigh asked Tendo after admiring the huge jaeger for another minute.

"She is up there right now, taking a close look at it," Tendo answered and pointed at a few silhouettes that were moving on the bridge in front of the jaeger's Conn-Pod. "Her potential co-pilots will get here tomorrow morning. She seemed very excited when I talked to her about it."

* * *

Mako and Raleigh met in the cantina later that night. Tendo had been right; she seemed very enthusiastic about the new jaeger.

"I had a close look at it today," she told him over dinner. "It is very impressive. It will be a dangerous opponent to any kaiju." Raleigh was happy to see his usually calm friend so excited. He wanted to talk to her about his confusion about Chuck. But somehow he felt that the time was not right. It was _her_ big moment tomorrow and he did not want to bother her with his childish worries.

So they sat in the canteen until late and chit chatted about everything and nothing. It felt good to be around her again after such a long time. But then it was Mako who brought up the subject of Chuck.

"You have not really told me about how you and Chuck are doing as a team, Raleigh. I saw that your battle against the kaiju went very well and I watched you in the simulator the other day. But I haven't heard your opinion on it yet," she said and looked at him intently.

"I, uh, yeah, I guess it's working fine," Raleigh stuttered and felt like an idiot. Why did Mako have to bring him up? "He is a good ranger," he added slowly.

"Yes, he is. But I mean… Chuck and you disliked each other so much. Is it hard to get along with him in the drift?" Mako put down her fork and watched Raleigh. "You were the one who told me 'the deeper the connection between two rangers, the better they fight', do you remember that?"

"I do," Raleigh hesitated. _Oh fuck it, I will just tell her. _"There is something I wanted to talk about with you anyway." He looked at his plate. Suddenly, those peas seemed really interesting. He felt Mako lean in closer. She put her hand on his, squeezing it lightly.

"Is something wrong, Raleigh? You are behaving strange."

"It's about Chuck," Raleigh began. "He is… I don't know what to say, Mako. I think I like him," he blurted out.

"Oh, that's great," Mako exclaimed, seemingly relieved. "I knew you two would eventually become friends! He's not such a bad guy."

Raleigh shook his head.

"No, I don't mean it that way, Mako," he murmured. She looked confused. "I think, I actually _like_ him. Not just as a friend…"

"Ooooooh!" Mako's eyes grew wide and she squeezed his hands tighter. "Oooooh…" she let out again, leaning back into her chair.

Raleigh finally looked up reluctantly and Mako leaned in closer again and whispered, "Do you know if he likes you, too?" Raleigh was taken aback. He had not expected Mako to react like that. _Well, I guess it's better than giving her a heart attack…_

"I don't know," he groaned. "He's hard to read… even in the drift. The other night he told me that he used to have a crush on me when Yancy and me were still piloting Gipsy."

"Really?" Mako seemed to be taken in by the whole thing. "I guess that explains his behaviour towards you when you first got here. It must have been quite a shock for him."

"I don't know if he was serious or just mocking me!" Raleigh started chewing on a piece of bread. "But whenever we drift, I get this weird feeling… like a tingle…"

"Like butterflies in your stomach?" Mako snickered. "You or him?"

"I can't tell. It's so confusing. It could be my own emotions, it could be his…" Raleigh sighed and picked up another small piece of bread. "But drifting with him is so different. Whenever we are connected, I feel so much of his energy. It's like trying to hold down a raging bull," Raleigh made a face and laughed about how stupid that sounded. Then he shrugged and added, "I guess it feels good…?"

Mako smiled at him.

"You should just see where it goes, Raleigh. As long as it works in the jaeger, why not? And maybe he still has feelings for you. You should try and find out"

"Do you think I should ask him?" Raleigh felt uncomfortable just thinking about it.

"Maybe? I am not sure, Raleigh. It could work or it could make thinks awkward between you two if he does not feel the same. I am sorry, that is not much of a help, I fear."

"No Mako! Talking to you already helped. I am so glad you are my friend," he said and squeezed her hand back. "I will work something out."

"You can come and talk to me whenever you want. You know that," she told him and smiled a bit wider.

_She's such an angel, what would I do without her?_ Raleigh thought and decided he'd talk to Chuck.


	8. Chapter 8

**Phase 07 – Chase the Rabbit**

The selection for Mako's new co-pilot was scheduled for the next morning. I was excited to see who would be fighting together with her in the future. She deserved the best co-pilot out there. I unsuccessfully tried pushing my thoughts about Chuck aside for the moment.

* * *

After three long hours of sparring and paperwork, Mako had found three new rangers. One would be her co-pilot and the other two would be piloting the upcoming mark-6. Chuck, Newton and Raleigh had been in the training room for most of the morning, watching the one on one fights.

In the end, Mako chose a quirky Dutch girl as her co-pilot. Her name was Jenna and she had been born in the Netherlands. Her Dad was a scientist for the P.P.D.C. and had suggested her for the jaeger academy. She had been at the top 5% of her class. Unfortunately, the jaeger program had been phased out before she could ever fight a real battle. Raleigh liked her. She had a cute accent and seemed to be a very lively person unlike most jaeger academy graduates. Chuck seemed indifferent towards her but Max loved Jenna. Well, Max loved everyone, really, so it was no surprise.

The other team were twins from New Zealand. Chuck made some rude jokes that involved sexual intercourse and sheep, but otherwise he seemed to be fine with Mako's choice. Their names were Cody and Travis. Raleigh could not tell them apart at all. They were tall, tan and had dark brown hair, moved and spoke in unison and seemed to be very disciplined. Cody and Travis would spend most of their next days in the simulator to prepare them for the arrival of their jaeger.

* * *

Three days later, it happened. The siren woke them up again. It had been three months since the last kaiju attacked. Raleigh wasted no time and sped into the drivesuit room. Chuck arrived just a minute later.

"Guess we will have some fun again tonight," he said as the assistants connected his spinal cord. "Are you ready to save the world, Raleigh?" He grinned at his co-pilot. Raleigh wiped his messy hair out of his face and nodded.

"I am ready any time; day and night!"

"_Kaiju category 4, codename: Cutter. 2,900 tons 390 feet," _the voice announced via loudspeaker.

"Oh, a big one today, huh?" Chuck seemed surprised.

One of Tendo's assistants came rushing into the drive suit room.

"We will deploy Puma Real and Dragon Flare. You two are ordered to attack the kaiju. If any problem arises, Dragon Flare will assist you," he told them quickly. Chuck and Raleigh nodded.

"Well, at least the new ranger will get some hands on experience today. Or probably not. We will crush that thing!" Chuck shouted as he made his way into the Conn-Pod. Less than a minute later, he and Raleigh were hooked up to the jaeger equipment, awaiting Tendo's drift initiation.

"_Initiating drift in three – two – one –"_

The usual wave of emotions and memories washed over Chuck and Raleigh. The process became easier and easier each time. Raleigh felt the familiar surge of energy, and then they were synced.

"_Neural handshake complete."_

"_Boys, be careful, this kaiju is a big one. Don't get cocky, okay?"_ they heard Tendo's voice.

"No problem, Tendo! We will do this!" Chuck and Raleigh called out in unison, as it had become their habit while in the drift.

Puma Real was hooked up to the transport helicopters and lifted into the air. Dragon Flare followed closely behind. Mako wished them all good luck. They were dropped into the ocean and waited side by side.

Then the kaiju appeared. They only saw a huge back and something that seemed to be a very long head. Puma Real charged at it, punching wildly at the back of the huge beast, trying to keep it from getting on its kind legs.

The kaiju roared and tried to push over the jaeger by ramming its head against the jaeger's legs. _It is huge!_ Raleigh thought as he felt the impact with the kaiju against his own legs. Chuck was shouting as he kept throwing wild punches at the kaiju's back.

But then the kaiju thrust forward and managed to push Puma Real back. It got onto its feet and stood up to its full size. The roaring was deafening.

Suddenly, Raleigh froze as he saw the kaiju's silhouette against the night sky. He gasped and stared at the huge beast.

It was Knifehead.

But it was bigger. So much bigger.

He felt Chuck's confusion. Heard him calling Raleigh's name in his head. But Raleigh didn't move. He just stared at the kaiju in front of them and felt the memories rushing into his consciousness.

_He was back in Gipsy Danger. _

_White hot pain in his left arm. _

_Knifehead's claw tearing through the Conn-Pod's roof. _

_Yancy._

_No._

_No. No. No._

_He heard someone call his name. _

_Again and again._

"Shit!" Chuck swore loudly. "Raleigh is chasing the rabbit!" he yelled. "Send Dragon Flare for help, I can't move!"

"_What?!"_ he heard Tendo's voice. _"Damn it! Dragon Flare, go get that kaiju away from them! And Chuck, try to get Raleigh back!"_

Then the huge kaiju threw itself at the jaeger. Chuck tried to get a stable stance. The jaeger was shaking wildly. Chuck managed to keep it on its legs, but it cost him way more energy than it should.

Then Dragon Flame hurled the huge monster away from Puma Real, grabbing the kaiju's arms and pushing it under water. The kaiju retreated a few hundred feet and Dragon Flare followed.

Chuck was breathing heavily. He looked at Raleigh who was still frozen in place, panting, sweating, shaking, staring out at the ocean in front of him.

"Shit, shit, shit" Chuck swore again.

_The claws were digging through the steel._

_Raleigh was shouting._

_Then Yancy was torn from the Conn-Pod and Raleigh's head seemed to explode._

_YANCY!_

_No! _

"Raleigh! Please listen to me!"

_The pain shot through Raleigh's body. _

_He knew he was going to die._

"Raleigh! Don't chase the rabbit! Don't hold on to the memory!"

_He could not pilot the jaeger alone._

_And the silence in his head was terrifying._

_Blood ran down his face._

"It is not real! Can you hear me?!"

_Yancy…_

_You can't be dead._

_You just can't leave me like this._

"Please, Raleigh, listen to me!"

_Raleigh felt someone pulling at him. _

_Someone was still in his head – and it was not just Yancy._

_There was so much pain. _

_He could not breathe._

"I just can't get through to him, Tendo! We have to disconnect him!" Chuck yelled.

"_No! If we do that and you get attacked by the kaiju, you will both be dead, Chuck! You have to stay in the drift. Use the drift to get to him. You are in his head, for God's sake!"_

Outside, Chuck saw that Dragon Flare was still fighting the kaiju. The kaiju was very resistant, but it didn't seem like the other jaeger was in trouble – yet.

Chuck looked at Raleigh again and felt his own panic rising. He had to get Raleigh out of there or they might both die. At the moment, they were nothing more kaiju dinner on a silver plate.

Chuck tried to calm his racing mind down. It was hard because he could feel Raleigh's panic and helplessness. Closing his eyes, he began to wander through Raleigh's mind, reaching out to his co-pilot.

Then he was there, right in Raleigh's terrible memory. He felt the ocean water splash into the Conn-Pod. He felt Raleigh's anger and his terror. He could hear Knifehead's roaring. Breathing became harder.

He reached out and tried to grab Raleigh's arm. But he could not get him. He tried again and finally felt like he was holding onto Raleigh's arm. He knew it was only happening in his head, but he had no other idea how to get through to Raleigh.

The Raleigh inside the memory was screaming in pain and anger. Sparks were flying around them. Chuck grabbed Raleigh's other arm and tried to keep him from moving. But Raleigh didn't even seem to see him.

"Raleigh!" Chuck shouted over the noise of the kaiju and the ocean. "Raleigh, look at me!" For a second, nothing happened. Then Raleigh seemed to notice him. He looked at Chuck and panted. But he didn't react to anything Chuck was saying. Everything around them seemed to slow down. The noise became a muffled roaring.

But Raleigh still did not snap out of it.

Chuck now held on to Raleigh's shoulders and kept him perfectly still. Raleigh froze. Carefully, Chuck reached up to Raleigh's head and removed his helmet, throwing it on the floor of the Conn-Pod.

When Raleigh still didn't seem to react, Chuck removed his own helmet and brought his face right in front of Raleigh's. He looked into the other's eyes, trying to find a spark or recognition. Any reaction at all. There was none.

"Raleigh, please look at me. This is not real. Nothing of this is real. Don't chase the rabbit, do you hear me?" Raleigh was just breathing heavily and stared right through Chuck.

Chuck felt cold fear grip his heart like an icy claw. He had never seen anyone get so lost in a memory. What if Raleigh never snapped back out of it? No, he would not let that happen! He had called Raleigh a coward for fleeing after this. He could not abandon him in that exact memory. But what the hell could he do?

Chuck lifted his hand and gently stroked Raleigh's head. He moved his fingers through the other man's messy hair, watching him intently. Raleigh's breathing slowed down a bit.

"Raleigh, come back to me," Chuck whispered. "I am here with you. Nothing will happen to you. Just get the hell out of there!" He shouted the last bit, frustrated that he did not know what to do.

"… Yancy…?"

Chuck's heart skipped a beat.

"No, it's me. Chuck. Your co-pilot."

"Chuck…?"

Raleigh's voice was no more than a hoarse whisper. He didn't show any recognition when he repeated Chuck's name.

"Damn it, Becket! What are you doing?!" Chuck shook him.

Chuck was thinking hard. Each touch seemed to show a tiny effect on Raleigh. He could get him back out of there, Chuck was sure. His face grim, he gently put his finger under Raleigh's chin and turned Raleigh's face slightly upwards.

_Shit, I am going to regret this. What the hell; who cares; it's just in our heads! _

Chuck slowly leaned forward, keeping his eyes locked on Raleigh's. He carefully touched Raleigh's lips with his own. The touch was so light that he hardly felt it. But he felt Raleigh's heart beat speed up.

Leaning in more, he carefully kissed Raleigh. He tasted blood and sea water.

Chuck was still looking into Raleigh's eyes, waiting for a reaction. Raleigh blinked. And then he blinked again.

Chuck's hand wandered to the back of Raleigh's head, clutching the blonde hair. Chuck couldn't resist. He closed his eyes. Then suddenly, he felt Raleigh return the kiss. But it only lasted a second. Then Raleigh jerked away from Chuck and pushed against his chest, sending the other man stumbling a few steps backwards.

"Chuck?! What… what is going on?!" Raleigh stared at Chuck in disbelief.

"You chased the rabbit, Raleigh," Chuck told him. His voice sounded weird even in his own ears.

Raleigh's realization flooded through Chuck's mind and the next second they were back in Puma Reals Conn-Pod, still hooked up to the equipment.

" – _you there, Chuck? Raleigh?" _Tendo's voice came through the loud speakers.

"We are back," Chuck coughed and tried to calm his racing heart.

Raleigh was quiet. When Chuck looked out of the Conn-Pod, he saw that Dragon Flare was standing about one hundred feet from them, waiting for orders. There was no sign of the kaiju.

* * *

Uuuh, tell me what you think? ;P


	9. Chapter 9

**VERY IMPORTANT NOTE!**

**I was so stupid to upload a wrong file for the last chapter. The last few paragraphs that had all the important action were cut off. Ugh.**

**If you want to know what was really going on, please check out chapter 8 again and read the last bit again. I am so sorry for this!**

* * *

**Phase 09 – Fight**

"_Get back to base, boys! Let's get you out of there"_ Tendo ordered.

Chuck watched Raleigh out of the corner of his eye.

"You alright?" he asked as they slowly made their way back. He felt that Raleigh was still shaking. His co-pilot just nodded without saying anything. Chuck could sense a weird mix of emotions. Raleigh was ashamed of his own failure. He was thankful for Chuck's help. And he was confused about the kiss. Chuck's heart sank a little bit. Somehow he had hoped for more than just confusion.

Chuck got more and more worried when Raleigh spoke not a single word even after they got back to the shatterdome.

"_Raleigh, please come into LOCCENT. You too, Chuck,"_ they heard Tendo announce.

Raleigh almost fled out of the Conn-Pod. When they got into the Mission Control room, Tendo jumped up from his seat. Mako and Jenna were already there. Mako looked very worried when she saw Raleigh.

"Raleigh!" Tendo hurried to the blonde ranger and grabbed his shoulders. "God, I am glad you're alright, kid. What the hell happened?! You almost got yourself and Chuck killed out there. If Mako and Jenna hadn't been there with you, both of you would be dead on the ocean floor right now!" He gently shook Raleigh.

Raleigh shrugged and pulled free. His legs felt weak and he stumbled over to Tendo's seat. Burying his face in his hands, he croaked, "Knifehead. It was _Knifehead_! I just… I just couldn't do anything against it. It was as if I was back in Alaska with Yancy…" Raleigh's voice was just a whisper. Then he looked up. "It won't ever happen again, Tendo."

Tendo nodded slowly. "We all make mistakes. We will send you through some training starting tomorrow to make sure you're fine to get on board again. I don't want to risk losing you two or the jaeger."

Raleigh looked like he was going to protest, but before he could say a word, Chuck cleared his throat.

"That sounds like a good idea. Mako and Jenna, you did a good job today," he said and smiled at them. Mako returned the smile and gave a tiny bow.

Tendo dismissed them and returned to his computer.

Outside, Mako rushed towards Raleigh and started talking to him in Japanese. He seemed thankful for her company. Chuck stood there and felt a sudden sting in his heart. Without saying anything, he turned around and walked towards the elevator to return to his bedroom.

Chuck slammed the heavy steel door shut behind him with a deafening 'pang' and let out a frustrated scream. He kicked his bin against the wall and watched it clatter to the floor. Max had been sleeping on his bed and let out a surprised yelp.

"Sorry, Max," Chuck grumbled before bending down and patting the dog's head. "I missed you, boy. I had a pretty shit day." Max let his tongue hang out of its big jaws and wagged its tiny stump of a tail. "You're always happy, aren't you? I wish my life was as simple as yours. Heh. Eating and sleeping all day." He rested his forehead against the dog's shoulder.

Someone knocked on the door. Chuck groaned and ignored it. It knocked again. Swearing, Chuck got up and walked to the door and looked through the peephole. It was Raleigh. Chuck was just about to turn around and ignore him, when Raleigh looked up.

_Damn, he looks like shit_, Chuck thought.

"Hey Chuck, I know you're in there!" Raleigh leaned against the door frame and called through the heavy steel. "I would like to talk to you."

Chuck gave in and opened the door slowly.

"Hey," he said and took a step back to let Raleigh walk inside.

"Hey," Raleigh just replied and sat down on Chuck's bed next to Max. He started patting the sleepy dog absentmindedly.

Chuck walked over to his small portable fridge and got out two cans of cola.

"Thirsty?" He offered one of the cold cans to Raleigh.

"Thanks," Raleigh said and took the can.

Chuck looked at him with furrowed brows.

"What did you want to talk about?" he finally asked and sat down on the other side of Max.

Raleigh looked up and Chuck's heart almost broke. Raleigh looked so lost. _He resembles a puppy that someone had just kicked with a very heavy boot,_ Chuck thought and took a sip of his cola.

"I really fucked up today. That should never have happened," Raleigh began, shaking his head. "My weakness could have gotten us killed."

"Yes, but we are here and we are still alive, Raleigh." Chuck watched Raleigh's face intently.

"And no thanks to me," Raleigh mumbled and looked at Chuck. "Thank you, Chuck."

"We are a team, don't forget that. When we are in the jaeger, we fight as one. Don't worry, okay?" Chuck bit his lip. He was trying to stay calm, but secretly, he agreed with Raleigh. The other man _had _almost killed them and part of Chuck wanted to punch Raleigh's handsome face for that. He wished he could yell at Raleigh, let out his frustration at him, shove the other man down onto his bed, and – wait._ What_.

Raleigh's eye narrowed.

_Shit, can you read my mind now, or what? _Chuck thought and looked away quickly.

"There is something else I need to talk to you about," Raleigh began. His voice was shaking slightly. "Why did you kiss me, Chuck?"

Chuck stared at him. _Shit._

"I, uhm, I…" Chuck stuttered. "I thought… it was worth a try? To get you back out of there… I mean…"

"What did it _mean_?" Raleigh blurted out.

Chuck continued staring into Raleigh's grey eyes. Then he jumped up and let out an irritated grunt. Max lifted his head and watched him pace up and down the little room.

"Why are you asking me this, Raleigh?!" Chuck threw the empty can at the bin that was still lying in the corner. "I was just trying to help you, for fuck's sake!"

Raleigh jumped up as well. Max seemed disturbed by all the noise and jumped off the bed, curling into a ball in front of the steel door.

"So that's it? You fucking _kissed_ me to get me out of the memory? Really?!"

Chuck turned to Raleigh and stabbed at the other man's chest with his finger.

"You could just be a little bit more thankful, dipshit!" He kept stabbing at Raleigh's chest. "I saved your fucking life and you thank me by questioning me?! What kind of idiot are you?!"

Raleigh pushed Chuck back. His eyes were filled with anger.

"How can you be such an asshole, _Hansen_?!" he yelled and pushed Chuck again, this time harder.

"Watch what you're doing, _Becket_!" Chuck growled and caught Raleigh's wrists.

"I thought I had been wrong about you!" Raleigh hissed. "But it seems I was perfectly right. You're a self-centred jerk!" He tried to pull his hands away but Chuck was holding on too tight.

"I will show you how much of a jerk I am," Chuck said with an angry snarl. He lunged forward and threw himself at Raleigh, pushing him down onto the bed. Raleigh was trying to kick him off, but Chuck pinned him down with his arms and body.

"What the fuck are you doing –" Raleigh panted and squirmed. He couldn't breathe because Chuck's whole weight rested on him.

"You know why I really kissed you today?" Chuck growled. Raleigh stopped his attempts to fight off Chuck and stared at him. Chuck sneered and leaned forward, whispering into Raleigh's ear.

"Because I want to fuck your brains out, _Becket._"

Raleigh was perfectly still for a few seconds and just stared into Chuck's green eyes. Then he pushed hard and managed to send Chuck stumbling back into the room. Raleigh jumped off the bed and yanked the door open, almost tripping over Max.

"You are sick!" he yelled at Chuck and stormed out of the room. Max whined and licked his paw that Raleigh had stepped on while rushing out of the door.

"Well, _FUCK_!" Chuck yelled and kicked the door shut with an even louder 'pang' than before.

* * *

**Uh-oh. Seems like Chuck got a bit too cocky there.  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Phase 10 – Prey**

Raleigh was swearing to himself the whole way back to his room. Before he could enter, Mako opened her door and peeked outside.

"Hey Raleigh? Are you alright?" She asked and stepped outside. Raleigh turned around and threw his hands into the hair.

"I don't know, Mako! I just can't deal with Chuck!"

"Would you like to have a tea? It might calm you down a bit," she offered.

Raleigh willingly accepted the offer. While Mako was making some fresh tea, Raleigh told her the whole story of what had happened to him inside Puma Real, what Chuck had done in the drift to get him back and what had happened in Chuck's living quarter just a few minutes earlier.

Mako looked at him with wide eyes while she served the tea.

"He said _what_? No, no, you don't have to repeat it," she corrected herself before Raleigh could say a word. She tried to keep a straight face but then she just started laughing. "He did not say that!" She sat down at her small desk opposite of Raleigh and tried to calm down. Tears were shining in the corners of her eyes.

"Hey, I am glad you find that so funny, Mako," Raleigh grumbled and sipped his tea.

"I am so sorry Raleigh. It is just… Chuck is so cocky. I have known him for years. We worked together a few times before we all came here. In all that time, Chuck has never had a single girlfriend. Now I think I understand why he was always so uptight and on edge," she snickered.

"Mako!" Raleigh couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Maybe he just needs some _love_, Raleigh," Mako went on and wiped the tears from her eyes. "He'd probably be a lot more relaxed if someone took care of him for a change."

"I didn't know you could be such a gossip," Raleigh laughed as he finished his tea.

"I am not gossiping, Raleigh," she said, "I am just telling you the facts. Because you are my friend!"

"Well, thanks for that, Mako. And for the tea. But I think I should go and get some sleep now. My special training will start in a few hours and I really don't feel up for it right now."

* * *

I slept through most of the morning and woke up just in time to get some lunch before my "special training" that Tendo had scheduled for 1 pm. I didn't know what to expect, really. But I couldn't concentrate on it anyway. My thoughts were circling around a certain dirty blonde asshole of a ranger.

I had gone to his room the night before to thank him for helping me. And because I just couldn't deal with not knowing about his feelings anymore. The kiss had shocked me, to say the least. But it had made me think that maybe, Chuck's crush on me was still there.

It had taken me so much willpower to ask him about the kiss and its meaning. It had hurt when he said he had only done it to get me back out of the memory and refused to say a word about what it had actually _meant _to him.

If I had been in a different mood, I might have taken his comment about 'wanting to fuck my brains out' as some kind of twisted joke or even a compliment. But in that situation it had just been a slap in the face. It meant he didn't take anything seriously at all. It was nothing but frustrating.

* * *

Raleigh entered LOCCENT and saw that Tendo was already there and seemed to go through a few documents that were stacked on the desk.

_Does that man ever sleep?_ Raleigh wondered as he stifled a yawn.

"Oi, Becket!"

_Oh no._

Chuck was sitting on one of the empty chairs next to Tendo's desk. Max was sleeping and snoring loudly at his feet.

"What are you doing here, Chuck?" Raleigh hissed.

Tendo looked up, seemingly confused.

"He will do the training with you, Raleigh. Who else did you expect?"

"You haven't even told me what kind of training this will be, Tendo!" Raleigh ignored Chuck and sat down on another chair.

"Oh, just some simulator training, nothing too different," Tendo answered and shrugged. "But Newton has created a special programme that will be hooked up to the simulator to record your brain activity. Should you get trapped in a memory again, it will alert us and shut down the neural bridge immediately."

"But it has never happened to me before!" Raleigh protested. "I don't need all that, Tendo! You know that. It won't happen again!"

"Raleigh, I know you are a great ranger. But you're just human, like all of us. The new jaegers are our last chance. We can absolutely not afford to lose one thanks to human failure. It was pure luck that you and Chuck even survived the battle yesterday. Just do these tests today, Raleigh. Everyone else will have to go through them at one stage. Mako and Jenna will do it tomorrow. Travis and Cody the day after. This is not a punishment."

Raleigh knew he had no chance. Tendo was a pretty laid back boss, but he was right. If they lost any of their jaegers in a battle, it would definitely be the end this time. So he obeyed Tendo's orders and to his surprise, they got through three test rounds just fine. Chuck behaved as if nothing had happened between them at all; no kiss, no fight, nothing.

_Always the soldier_, Raleigh thought as they ended the fourth and last test battle with an almost perfect score.

Tendo only let them fight against category 4 kaiju now, convinced that nothing smaller would ever get through the breach again. But one thought seemed to be on everyone's mind: What if a category 5 would pop up again? They had managed to slay Slattern with Gipsy and Striker's full weapon arsenal and a nuke combined. Even with their new Mark-6 jaeger and another two scheduled to arrive at the Shatterdome within the next four weeks, they would be in trouble if category 5 kaiju would start coming on a regular basis.

Tendo congratulated them on their performance and assured Raleigh that his drift had been stable the whole time. Raleigh was just about to rush out of the simulator room and change out of his drivesuit, when he heard Chuck call after him.

"Hey Raleigh!"

The blonde ranger groaned and turned around.

"What do you want, Chuck?" he asked and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Feel like grabbing a beer and some food in the city?" Chuck asked, casually. Raleigh couldn't believe his ears.

"Are you fucking serious?" he replied in disbelief. Chuck just shrugged.

"I wouldn't ask you if I wasn't."

Raleigh stared at him and wasn't sure what to say. Was Chuck mocking him or was this his weird way of _making up_ and offering to go back to being something like… friends? Raleigh felt like it was the latter. That would be so typically Chuck. Just pretending like everything was fine and he had never said or done anything wrong. Raleigh sighed. He sure as hell didn't want to turn this into some teenage girl drama.

"Yeah, alright, why not," he said as he turned around to leave the room. He didn't see the relief on Chuck's face and only heard him call, "Alright, meet me at the gate in 15 minutes!"

* * *

Raleigh wasn't even sure _why_ he was going. Just a few hours earlier, he had felt like punching Chuck's face until the other man passed out on the floor. Now he was going "for a beer" with him.

_Maybe_, he thought, _it's because I am not a whiny little bitch and I know all too well that Chuck and I are a good team in a jaeger. So we better be a good team outside of it, too. _

He didn't even convince himself. He knew he had a thing for Chuck and was oddly attracted to that douchebag. For whatever masochistic reason that might be. It couldn't just be because Chuck was _hot_. Well, he was… but Raleigh had never been the one to fall for someone because of their looks.

_Well, maybe I am the stupid teenage girl who falls for the cocky douchebag_, he thought and sighed, as he made his way to the Shatterdome's main gate. He'd just give Chuck another chance. He deserved it; kind of… after all, he had just saved Raleigh's life.

Chuck was already waiting for him, leaning against his little red Hyundai. Raleigh stopped short and shook his head.

"No way!" he said and walked past Chuck, grabbing the car keys out of the other ranger's hand. "I'll drive. I want to live."

"What?! No, that's my car, you'll just wreck it!" Chuck protested and tried to snatch the keys out of Raleigh's hand again, but he was too slow.

"Rah-leeeee," he growled and grasped Raleigh's arm, pushing him against the car. "Give me the keys," Chuck demanded. Raleigh kept the keys out of Chuck's reach and stared into his green eyes.

"No," he said simply and became aware of how uncomfortably close Chuck's face was to his own. His heart started beating faster and he didn't move, secretly enjoying the feeling of Chuck's warm body pressed against his own. Raleigh barely kept himself from grimacing at that thought.

Chuck seemed indecisive about something and stared back at Raleigh for what felt like a _very_ long second. Too long for Raleigh, and he felt himself giving in. It seemed to him like he moved in slow motion, careful, as if a quick movement could scare Chuck off like a rabbit. His free hand dropped the car keys with a loud "cling clack" against the concrete floor, but Chuck stayed where he was, his eyes locked with Raleigh's. Raleigh moved his hand up to Chuck's cheek and touched it lightly, giving him a slightly quizzical look, as if asking for a permission to touch the other man.

When Chuck did not so much as blink, Raleigh slowly brushed over Chuck's cheekbone with his thumb. Chuck slightly leaned into the touch, but never took his eyes off Raleigh, like a predator watching its prey's every move, ready to jump onto it should it try to get away or even dare to attack.

The look sent shivers down Raleigh's spine and reminded him that in a way, Chuck _was_ a predator, trained to kill. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest. He was either doing something very brave or something very stupid.

Raleigh moved his hand to the back of Chuck's neck, carefully pulling him closer. That seemed to be a signal for Chuck. He pushed his whole body against Raleigh's, pinning him against the side of the car. Chuck grabbed the hair at the back of Raleigh's head with his free hand and brought their lips together.

Raleigh closed his eyes and pushed aside all thoughts of _what the fuck are you doing, Becket?!_ Chuck was not exactly gentle, but Raleigh didn't care. He let out an embarrassingly pleased grunt when Chuck shifted and pushed his leg in between Raleigh's. Chuck's rough stubble rubbed against Raleigh's freshly shaven skin, leaving behind a nice tingling feeling.

A few seconds later, Chuck pulled away, breathless. Before either of them could say anything, they heard loud whistling from the other side of helipad just next to them. A few technicians had been working on one of the helicopters and apparently watched them.

"Hey Hansen, nice show!" one of them called over.

"Shut your mouth and do your work, Lee!" Chuck yelled, taking a step back from Raleigh. He picked up the car keys that were still lying on the floor and opened the driver's door. Chuck flopped down on the seat and turned on the radio.

"Oi Raleigh, you coming or what?" he asked when Raleigh did not move. Raleigh ran his hand through his hair, trying to fix the mess Chuck had made of it and jogged around the car to the passenger door.

Raleigh sat down and looked at Chuck who was currently fiddling with the radio to find a station he liked. Chuck seemed to notice him and looked up, raising one eyebrow.

"You okay?" he asked as if nothing had happened.

_Oh, fine, two people can play this game, _Raleigh thought and nodded. _What did I expect? This is Chuck fucking Hansen, the man who could not even give his old man a hug when saying his last good byes. I shouldn't expect him to talk about anything that involves emotions. Ever._

"Yeah, of course I am," Raleigh replied with mock annoyance. "Now hurry up, I am starving."

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you guys so much for your reviews! Special thanks to Hepren, who left such nice and elaborate comments! They really made my day, thank you so much!


	11. Chapter 11

**Phase 11 – A Night Off**

Raleigh's legs were shaking when he literally fled from the car as soon as Chuck stopped in a narrow laneway in the middle of the Boneslums.

"I can't believe I actually survived this. _Twice_!" he groaned as he leaned against the car.

"Shut up, Raleigh," Chuck huffed as he got out.

"So where are we going this time?" Raleigh asked as he looked around. He had not been in the Boneslums yet. Well, he had almost crushed a few buildings on the other side of the road during the battle against Otachi, but that did not really count, he decided.

"My favourite place," Chuck simply stated and made his way along the laneway and out onto the main road.

The sun had already set and the whole area was lit up by cars, lanterns and neon lights. It was actually quite beautiful if you ignored that the huge bones protruding between the buildings had once belonged to Reckoner who had crushed thousands of people on his way through Hong Kong. The streets were busy as hundreds of people made their way into shops, bars and restaurants along the streets.

Raleigh walked shoulder to shoulder with Chuck as they shoved and squeezed their way through the people hurrying along the street. _It's Friday_, Raleigh realised as he caught a glimpse of an old TV airing the news in a shop window. _I can't even remember the last time I was out in the city, just enjoying a weekend._

Of course they were still never really off duty now that kaiju kept coming out of the breach again. They always carried their phones with them, no matter where they went. But only two kaiju had come through the breach in the last few weeks and Hermann was convinced that they had at least another 8 days before the next kaiju might show up. But just in case, all rangers had received orders to not leave the shatterdome at the same time. Either Raleigh and Chuck or Mako and Jenna had to be ready for combat at any time.

Chuck had made sure that Mako and Jenna did not have any plans for the night, so he and Raleigh could take some hours off. Raleigh still did not feel one hundred per cent on easy, though. But he knew that Mako and Jenna had their mark-6 jaeger, which could beat the old Puma Real into pieces, so he had decided to not worry for the night.

"Here we are," Chuck's voice got Raleigh out of his thoughts. They headed into something that looked suspiciously like an Irish Pub.

"What is this thing doing here?" Raleigh asked, confused.

"Well, there are tourists everywhere, Raleigh. And I happen to get sick from the pisswater they call beer here in China. This is one of the few places where the drinks are actually good."

"I didn't even know that you drink at all," Raleigh said as they entered the little pub. It was crowded and smelled like beer, hot chips and sweat.

"Sometimes you just need a drink," Chuck called over the noise. He turned to the bar and talked to the barkeeper, holding up two fingers.

Raleigh could not hear what exactly he ordered but it did not make any difference. He had never been one to drink much alcohol. In fact, he had probably had more beer in the first week after the Breach had been closed than he had ever had in his entire life before then. The academy did not allow it and on the wall construction sites even a bottle of Coke had been more than a little luxury. Not that Raleigh ever drank that stuff. Sodas kept him up all night, and ever since Yancy's death, he'd been fighting insomnia. He had learned very quickly to avoid caffeine in any shape or form.

Chuck turned around with two bottles of beer in his hands and motioned Raleigh to move over to a table in the far corner of the room with a nod of his head. Raleigh flopped down on one of the wooden bar chairs and took a look around the pub.

Chuck had been right; it seemed to be mostly populated by American and British tourists. He heard some Australian accents as well. And he recognised a group of jaeger tech staff from the shatterdome that had obviously had a few beers to many. One of them was topless and they were singing some silly folk song.

Chuck handed Raleigh one of the beers and raised his own bottle for a toast.

"To us, saviours of mankind, rock stars and heroes!" Raleigh had to laugh and clinked his bottle against Chuck's.

They drank their beers and sat in comfortable silence for a while. Raleigh watched the people around them, surprisingly enjoying being in the middle of a loud crowd for a change. Chuck seemed to be watching some ball game on the TV that was hung up above the ball. Raleigh squinted at the screen but he could not recognise the game at all.

"What's that?" he asked, motioning at the screen with his almost empty bottle.

"What? The game on TV?" Chuck asked. "That's Australian Rules Football," he said and Raleigh could have sworn to hear a hint of pride in his voice. Raleigh just shrugged. He had never heard of it before.

Chuck looked at him, unbelievingly.

"What the hell did you guys even do back in the academy?! When I was there, watching a game of sports or playing it was the only kind of hobby we were even allowed to have. Well, mostly we were playing it. Kept us fit and was more fun than spending the whole day in the gym." He gave one of his rare genuine smiles that made Raleigh's feel all warm and fuzzy.

"I was the best football player in the whole academy," Chuck continued.

_Of course_, Raleigh thought and chuckled. _Chuck Hansen, best at everything he does. Except for driving a god damn car._

Raleigh looked back at the screen and made a face.

"Do their pants have to be _that_ short?"

Chuck narrowed his eyes.

"Yes."

"I bet you looked sexy as hell in those short shorts," Raleigh deadpanned and took a sip from his beer.

Chuck stared at him, and then he cracked up with laughter. It was loud and heart-warming, exactly the kind of laughter that you heard way too seldom during the war. Raleigh tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably. He nearly choked as he tried to keep the beer inside his mouth and not spit it all over the table.

Chuck slapped him on the back a bit too hard and Raleigh snorted, beer dripping from his nose. The sight only made Chuck laugh harder.

"Very funny," Raleigh coughed and wiped the beer off his face with the sleeve of his sweater.

Over the next two beers, Chuck tried to explain the rules of the game to Raleigh. By half time, he was getting mildly frustrated because Raleigh just did not understand it. He pointed out all the different rules of the game, why the umpire had had blown the whistle, why the team only got one point and not six, … but Raleigh kept asking him about every single move that happened on the field. After the third quarter, Chuck realised Raleigh only wanted to hear him explain it again and again.

"I like your accent," Raleigh simply said and shrugged when Chuck asked him about that. Chuck smiled as Raleigh got up and got the third round of beers. By the fourth quarter, Raleigh had started cheering for the team that Chuck did not support, just to annoy him. In the end, Chuck's team won, anyway.

To celebrate the victory, Chuck got up to get them a big bowl of hot chips. Raleigh did not protest, his stomach was rumbling and he swore if he had to wait one more minute for some food, he'd starve.

"Hey, did you enjoy the game?" Raleigh heard someone ask behind him. He turned around and saw that it was one of the Australian tourists he had noticed a bit earlier. The guy was maybe Raleigh's age, maybe a few years older.

"Yeah, funny game you guys got there," Raleigh replied and emptied his beer bottle.

The dark-haired Australian smiled and sat down on Chuck's empty chair.

"You're the Becket boy, aren't you?" he asked. Raleigh was surprised.

"Yes, that's me." How the hell did that guy know his name?

"I saw you on TV. Your face has been everywhere, man. You saved all of our asses here, jaeger pilot."

Of course. How could Raleigh have forgotten the countless TV interviews?

"Huh, I guess so. Just did my job, really," Raleigh replied lamely. He did not like the attention he got as a jaeger pilot anymore. Back when he and Yancy had been stars, he had loved it. He had been cocky and arrogant. But now, he really did not feel like talking about this with strangers anymore.

"I'm Rob, by the way," the Australian said and leaned in closer. "Hey, I thought I could show you how thankful I am that you saved my life. I live just across the road, what do you think?"

Raleigh raised an eyebrow.

"I think you should be careful what you say next, _Rob_," he replied, emphasising the name in a way that made it sound more like a threat than advice.

"Oh, don't be shy, Becket," Rob continued and put his hand on Raleigh's thigh, giving it a light squeeze. "I promise, you'll have the night of your life. And me, too. Who wouldn't want to fuck a jaeger pilot, huh?"

Raleigh grabbed the other man's collar and yanked him closer.

"Who do you think you are, you little shit? Go hit on some drunk loser. You might find someone who pities you enough to let you have their way with them," he hissed. "But honestly, I doubt it."

"What's going on?"

Raleigh looked up to see Chuck standing next to the table, a big basket of hot chips in one hand and two bottles of beer in the other. Rob looked up as well and recognised Chuck's face instantly.

"Oh wow, two of you? Today must be my lucky day. I'll just have both of you, at once," he said with a smirk on his face. Chuck put down the beers and chips on the table and stared at the other Australian, as if to challenge him to go on and say one more word. Rob looked back to Raleigh, then to Chuck.

"Oooh, _that's _how it is," he said loudly, making sure everyone around them turned to watch what was going on. "_You_ two are fucking. Now doesn't that just make things so much more interesting?" He let his hand glide up Raleigh's thigh a bit more. "I'd really like to watch you two going at it!"

A few guys and a girl at the next table were watching them with interest. Someone was cheering them on. A few others were shaking their heads and then returned to their conversations.

"Watch what you're saying, asshole," Chuck growled.

"You need your boyfriend to take care of you, Becket? Aw that's so cute," Rob sneered.

Raleigh's fist hit the Australian right on the nose with a disgusting cracking noise.

"Ah _FUCK_!" he yelled as he fell off the chair and stumbled backwards, holding his bleeding nose. Raleigh was on his feet in a second and grabbed the other man's collar again.

"You go and _fuck off_ or I will break your jaw, too," Raleigh said with a snarl. He let go of the man's shirt and gave him a shove to send him to the floor. Rob pressed his sleeve to his nose to keep the blood from dripping onto his chest and shot Raleigh one last hateful look before he ran off.

"One-hit K.O.!" Chuck cheered as he sat down on his chair, giving Raleigh a pat on the back. Raleigh huffed and grabbed one of the chips from the basket.

"Who did he think he was? Trying to pick a fight with a jaeger pilot. Really?"

"More like, trying to pick us up for a threesome," Chuck said as he shoved a handful of chips into his mouth. He shot a sly smile at Raleigh and added, "But don't worry, I won't let any other man steal you away from me."

Raleigh stared back at Chuck, not sure if that had been a joke or not. Chuck seemed to see what he was thinking and laughed. "Relax, Rah-leeeeee, I'm just having a bit of fun, sue me." Raleigh cracked a smile, not entirely sure how to feel about that.

* * *

That night, we probably ended up drinking a few more beers and shots than we should have. But oh well, don't blame us. We were young, and just wanted to have some fun on a Friday night like all the normal people around us. Both of us just didn't really seem to be prepared for what happened later that night.


	12. Chapter 12

**Phase 12 – Sleep**

When Raleigh woke up the next morning, his head was pounding. He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned.

_God, now I remember why I don't drink_, he thought as he turned around and wanted to bury his head under his pillow. But instead of his pillow, he banged his head against something hard. Cursing, he opened one of his eyes and tried to see what was in his way. The little vent in his room let in just enough sunlight to make Raleigh's eyes burn. Growling, he opened his second eye.

"For God's sake, what the fuck!" he yelled and jerked away from the body lying in the bed next to him. Chuck was sprawled out on his back, taking up most of the bed and snoring. Raleigh rubbed his head. He had knocked it against Chuck's shoulder.

_Chuck must have passed out completely_, Raleigh thought. He had not even stirred. Carefully, as if scared of what he might find, Raleigh lifted the blanket a little bit.

_Shit._

They were both stark naked. Raleigh groaned again and sunk back onto the mattress. He tried to remember the night before. Everything was a blur, but the memories kept coming back to him.

_They were in the pub, having way too many beers and then some shots on top. _

_He had punched some sleazy Australian guy in the face just before._

_Chuck was laughing about Raleigh's face when he had the first shot of his life._

_The sound of Chuck's laughter gave Raleigh goose bumps._

_Chuck's hand was on his back, then his neck, then in his hair._

_They kissed, laughed, and had another drink. _

_They stumbled out of the pub way past midnight, holding onto each other for support._

_Outside, Raleigh put his hands around Chuck's waist and pulled him into an awkward, drunk embrace._

_Chuck called a taxi and shoved Raleigh onto the backseat._

_They kissed all the way back to the Shatterdome._

_They got halfway down the corridor before Raleigh fell flat on his face and Chuck's laughter was so loud that he most likely woke up half of the Shatterdome. _

_Raleigh swore and dragged Chuck to the floor when he wanted to help Raleigh up._

_They exchanged some half-hearted punches that turned into drunk wrestling._

_A few minutes later they made it to Raleigh's door._

_Chuck shoved him inside as soon as the door was unlocked._

_Laughter and gentle kisses turned into impatient groping and shoving as they tried to undress each other as fast as possible without falling over._

_Chuck bit Raleigh's lip and pushed him onto the bed._

_Chuck was in charge, what else had Raleigh really expected?_

_Raleigh's breath caught when he felt Chuck's hand around his cock._

"_You want me to do this, Rah-leeee?"_

_Chuck's breath was hot against Raleigh's ear._

_Sweat was dripping off Chuck's forehead with each thrust of his hips._

_Raleigh moaned and begged for more._

_Chuck collapsed on Raleigh's chest._

_They were panting._

_Chuck put one arm around Raleigh and pulled him against his chest._

"_Heh, I knew you needed that, Rah-leeee."_

_Raleigh smacked Chuck's head._

Raleigh stared at the grey concrete ceiling as the memories came back, slowly and blurry, but very straightforward. Chuck stirred next to him, making a noise that was something between a snore and a grunt as he turned around and rested his right arm on Raleigh's chest.

Raleigh slowly turned his head to look at Chuck's face. He looked relaxed and… content. His hair was a mess and sticking up into each direction. That moment, Raleigh realised that he had no chance. That he had never _had _any chance at all. He had fallen hard. Chuck's behaviour had woken the urge in him to tame the beast from the very first day they had exchanged a word. It had been like a challenge, written on a big banner in bold, red letters. _Make me obey you. _Well, _that_ had not quite worked, Raleigh told himself as he remembered the last night.

Trying not to wake Chuck, Raleigh shifted and turned onto his side, his face just inches from Chuck's. He gently kissed Chuck's forehead. Then he moved his lips along Chuck's temples, cheekbones, jawline, and the side of his neck. Chuck let out a muffled noise that sounded like an approval. Raleigh smiled against Chuck's neck and bit the skin lightly.

"Mmmhhwaddyadoin," Chuck mumbled and slowly opened his eyes. He squinted at the little bit of daylight that came into the room and then turned his head to Raleigh. "Hhmmmgobacktosleeeeep,Rah-leeeee," he hummed and pressed his lips against Raleigh's.

_Well, he doesn't seem too surprised_, Raleigh thought as Chuck's arm pressed him back into the pillows. Raleigh suspected that Chuck could handle alcohol a lot better than he could. Just the thought of alcohol was enough to make Raleigh feel sick. His head was still pounding. He tried to go back to sleep, but he just could not take his mind off what had happened the night before.

What was this now? Just two drunk guys doing something really stupid that they would never mention again? Raleigh knew he could not expect to get anything out of Chuck. That man would never talk about anything. And really, Raleigh did not even feel like talking about it. He decided he would just roll with it. See what would or would not happen next.

There was still a war going on, after all. He was aware that each time they got into a Jaeger, it could be the last thing they ever did. Each time they faced a kaiju, they might not return from the battle alive. So why should he not just enjoy the life he had and do whatever the hell he wanted? If he wanted to end up in the same bed with Chuck Hansen, he might as well do it.

Besides, it _was_ nice to wake up with someone for a change. Raleigh could not even remember the last time that had happened. All through his and Yancy's time in the PPDC, they had always shared a room and neither of them had stayed the night in someone else's room more than a couple of times.

Raleigh closed his eyes and listened to Chuck's soft snoring. Chuck's arm was still draped across his chest and Raleigh enjoyed the feeling of warm skin. He was just starting to drift back into the land of dreams, when someone knocked on his room door. Raleigh ignored it.

A few seconds later, it knocked again.

"Raleigh? Are you awake?" he heard Mako's voice through the door. "Tendo wants to see you."

Raleigh groaned. He knew Mako would not walk away before he showed some sign of life. He got up slowly, carefully lifting Chuck's arm off his chest. Chuck grunted and turned around but he did not wake up.

Raleigh quickly put on his pants from the night before and tiptoed to the door. He opened it a tiny bit and stuck his head out so that Mako could not see into the room.

"Hey Mako, good morning," he said and forced a smile. The lights in the corridor stung in his eyes.

"Oh Raleigh, you look…" Mako hesitated for a moment. Raleigh knew she thought _"you look like shit"_ but of course she would never say that. "… like you had a long night," she added after a second.

"Yes, pretty big night," Raleigh admitted and rubbed his eyes. Mako smiled at him.

"Well, I hope you had a good night," she said, shooting him a questioning look. She tried to peak over his shoulder. Raleigh chose to change the subject.

"So you said Tendo wanted to talk to me?"

Mako nodded but before she could say anything, they heard Chuck's sleepy voice.

"Oi Raleigh… do you have any water in here? For God's sake, feels like a hedgehog had sex with my throat last night…"

_Oh God…_ Raleigh groaned and covered his eyes with the palm of his hand. Mako stared at him with wide eyes. Then she put her hand over her mouth and Raleigh knew she tried to hide that she was close to cracking up. She gave a quick bow and chuckled.

"Find me in LOCCENT in half an hour, Raleigh," she said and hurried down the corridor before Raleigh could stop her.

"Who you talkin' to?" Chuck croaked, "I can't find any bloody water!"

_Maybe he cannot deal with alcohol so much better_, Raleigh thought. _He sounds like he has been yelling all night._

Raleigh turned around and closed the door with a bit more force than he had intended. The loud 'bang' of steel against steel sent a sharp pain through his head. Chuck was hanging off the bed, one hand on the floor and the other hand on the open door of the tiny fridge. He scowled at Raleigh.

"You only have_ beer _in here?!"

Chuck still seemed to be determined to pretend that whatever was going on between them did not need any further comment. Raleigh shrugged inwardly and grabbed a water bottle off his shelf. He tossed it at Chuck who just managed to catch it with his free hand. Chuck emptied half of the bottle and sunk back onto the bed, yawning.

"Tendo wants to talk to me… _us_, probably," Raleigh said as he slipped one of his dark grey sweaters over his head. He grabbed one of his towels and opened the door. "Be at LOCCENT in half an hour," he told Chuck and left, heading towards the bathrooms to take a shower and get his headache under control.

* * *

**A/N:** I AM SORRY GUYS. No smut. Well, not really.  
I hope you can deal with this... There are dozens of PWP stories around, so I really didn't feel like adding more smut to the pile.  
Maybe I will in some later chapter when the boys finally know what's even going on between them. Hehe.


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